Bailey Van Tassel

  • About
  • Blog
  • Garden Club
  • Garden Design
  • Shop
  • Contact
Woman adding fish emulstion to watering can
14 Dec 2021
Gardening

Soil Amendments to Boost Your Garden Mid-Season

There are many ways to use soil amendments, and I’ll walk you through the three approaches that I use below. In my first year at my current home, I got bulk soil delivered and didn’t amend it at all. It was a huge mistake as I found myself mid-season with veggies just not growing. At all. I should have amended the soil with worm castings in the very least, and added compost as well.

However, I did not, so I was totally dumbfounded, and so tried a few things to kickstart the garden again. What I ended up finding to be most successful was amending the soil in a few ways.

Typically you use soil amendments at the start of a new season, but mid-season you can side-dress your plants, working some materials into the soil to help nourish them.

Woman adding fertilizer to watering can.
Adding liquid fish emulsion to a watering can to apply it to my soil.

Why do we amend soil?

Each season, after your plants have successfully grown and produced their flowers, fruit, or veggies, the soil becomes depleted. The plants have been sucking up all the nutrients, minerals, and good bacteria, leaving the existing soil lacking. This is very natural, and when in nature, bacteria, mychorrizae, and worms and insects do amending for us. Worm poop is the ultimate soil additive!

In a home garden, especially raised beds, the soil is disconnected from the essential web of nutrients, so we have to help it out. Keeping worms in your raised beds is a great way to do this, but birds can often clear those out. It’s common to use soil amendments in your raised beds at least twice a year to keep the soil healthy and happy.

Traditional Soil Amendments

There are three main ways that I amend soil:

  1. I amend a raised bed at the beginning of a season, before planting. I’ll add worm castings, compost, and maybe some slow release granular fertilizer.
  2. I amend native soil when planting in the ground. In this instance it depends on the native soil. I have clay soil, so I amend with vermiculite, compost, and a fish emulsion. You can see how I work my soil HERE.
  3. I amend soil that is panted in, mid-season with worm castings, a fish-based fertilizer, and blood meal.

Mid-Season Soil Amending

When working with the third option, amending your soil mid-season I do it by “side dressing” the plant. I loosen the soil about 4″ away from the plants, using a garden fork or my fingers. Then I gently scatter my amendments and pat them down. For adding liquid fish emulsion, I do this in the evening (after the sun has set. to prevent burning) and after watering. This helps the soil best absorb the liquid.

After about 2 weeks you should see a different in your plants. More growth, deeper green color, less pests, and a perkier deameanor. I always say: plants with good posture are happy plants.

Plants with good posture are happy plants!

Bailey van tassel
Woman side-dressing kale to amend soil.
Side-dressing the kale.

Amending your soil is not a one-sized fits all solution. Other growth inhibitors can be pest issues (aphids live to such vital nutrients out of plants, stunting their growth), low sun exposure, low water access, or pests that live below the soil like grubs who eat the tender roots of plants.

Keep a close eye on the garden, and be sure to check what each plant likes by way of extra nutrients. Here Ive recommended blood meal as a soil amendment, as it has very high nitrogen – it’s basically all nitrogen when it comes to NPK. Blood meal boots a plant’s growth and leaf development, but is not a grea long-term solution as it can stunt actual vegetable development, so keep that in mind.

Good luck with your garden, my friends, and if you have any soil amending tricks, share them in the comments!

TAGS:fertilizergardeningorganic gardeningsoilsoil amendments
2 Comments
Share

You May Also Like

How to Grow Onions: Starting with Bulbs aka Sets

October 22, 2021

Create Your Perfect Potting Bench

January 28, 2022

Garden Design Behind the Scenes: Sage Cottage Starter Garden

February 23, 2021
  • Lacy Jo
    February 9, 2022

    Love the idea of a mid-season boost!

    Reply
    • Bailey Van Tassel
      Lacy Jo
      February 14, 2022

      Oh yay! I hope you’re able to try it!

      Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel Comment

Previous Post
Why I Choose Heirloom Seeds for My Garden
Next Post
Best Gardening Books, Part One

Recent Posts

  • woman cutting chamomile plant

    In the Tea Garden: Growing Chamomile

    August 3, 2022
  • We’re Expecting Our Third Baby!

    August 2, 2022
  • My Masterclass in Monetizing Instagram

    June 4, 2022
Hi I’m Bailey

Hi I’m Bailey

Teaching you how to grow veggies in any space while show you how to live a garden-inspired life.

Follow On Instagram

Edible flowers are a garden staple for me. I’ll grow any and ALL of them. 

Up first in this little series: flower ice cubes. As simple as putting flowers in the ice cube tray, filling it with water, and then freezing! 

It’s making mocktail hour very festive around here! 

Flower featured: dianthus. I grow it as a perennial and while I love it, the petals get separated when you destem them and they’re a bit fragile so I prefer to use them this way or fresh. 

#edibleflowers #eatyourflowers #dianthus #mocktails
baileyvantassel
baileyvantassel
•
Follow

Edible flowers are a garden staple for me. I’ll grow any and ALL of them.

Up first in this little series: flower ice cubes. As simple as putting flowers in the ice cube tray, filling it with water, and then freezing!

It’s making mocktail hour very festive around here!

Flower featured: dianthus. I grow it as a perennial and while I love it, the petals get separated when you destem them and they’re a bit fragile so I prefer to use them this way or fresh.

#edibleflowers #eatyourflowers #dianthus #mocktails

1 day ago
View on Instagram |
1/4
A tiny pollinator garden! In the dead heat of summer ☀️

I planted a meter lemon (which, yes, will be great in this pot forever) and some fennel for the giant swallowtail butterflies. Then parsley which attract the black swallowtail butterfly, and Pentas which will give nectar to all the hummingbirds and bees and butterflies. 

I filled the very bottom of this pot with some rocks, then added a bag of citrus mix soil (good drainage) and potting soil above that. It’s just what I had laying around. 

I chose to place the parsley behind the citrus for a little shade and then the fennel on the sides and the pentas up front. 

Hope this is helpful for any of my small spacer gardeners - there’s so much you can do in one pot! 

#pollinatorgarden #gardeninginspiration #smallspacegardening #urbangardening #urbangarden #urbangardener #gardendesign #gardenlife
baileyvantassel
baileyvantassel
•
Follow

A tiny pollinator garden! In the dead heat of summer ☀️

I planted a meter lemon (which, yes, will be great in this pot forever) and some fennel for the giant swallowtail butterflies. Then parsley which attract the black swallowtail butterfly, and Pentas which will give nectar to all the hummingbirds and bees and butterflies.

I filled the very bottom of this pot with some rocks, then added a bag of citrus mix soil (good drainage) and potting soil above that. It’s just what I had laying around.

I chose to place the parsley behind the citrus for a little shade and then the fennel on the sides and the pentas up front.

Hope this is helpful for any of my small spacer gardeners – there’s so much you can do in one pot!

#pollinatorgarden #gardeninginspiration #smallspacegardening #urbangardening #urbangarden #urbangardener #gardendesign #gardenlife

2 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/4
It started on a dead patch of lawn, which I turned into two raised beds. 

And now after *years* of research, trial, moves, waiting on global pandemics to end (♾) we have a garden with 10 beds, an arch trellis, a potting bench, and 8 hours of sun! 

Honestly, my husband has pushed me to not half-ass it. I like progress over perfect, and without his help and nudging I’d just have thrown some seeds in the ground and called it a day. Which is totally fine, and so very good enough. 

But he knew I wanted a specific place. A room. A setting for my dreams. A location that beckons visitors and creates admirers not for the sake of ego, but to inspire into appreciators of the garden in general. 

So, go all in on yourself. Don’t half ass it. 

#gardendesign #raisedbedgarden #organicgardening #liveauthentic
baileyvantassel
baileyvantassel
•
Follow

It started on a dead patch of lawn, which I turned into two raised beds.

And now after *years* of research, trial, moves, waiting on global pandemics to end (♾) we have a garden with 10 beds, an arch trellis, a potting bench, and 8 hours of sun!

Honestly, my husband has pushed me to not half-ass it. I like progress over perfect, and without his help and nudging I’d just have thrown some seeds in the ground and called it a day. Which is totally fine, and so very good enough.

But he knew I wanted a specific place. A room. A setting for my dreams. A location that beckons visitors and creates admirers not for the sake of ego, but to inspire into appreciators of the garden in general.

So, go all in on yourself. Don’t half ass it.

#gardendesign #raisedbedgarden #organicgardening #liveauthentic

5 days ago
View on Instagram |
3/4
I love this plant. Calendula is an edible and medicinal flower that self sows quite well. I haven’t had it growing in my garden in about 6 months, and yet here she is! 

She likes a cooler season, but apparently end of July works too! Once I saw this volunteer pop up, I immediately started the rest of my seeds. 

Follow natures queues to best learn your own garden. Mama 🌎 knows best. 

Hoping for a big calendula year to make salves for friends and family. We love it for cuts, burns, and irritated skin. 

Oh and then there’s the pure unadulterated joy of calendula flowers adorning a cake or salad. She’s a queen, this one. 

#calendula #edibleflowers #medicinalherbs #herbalism #slowliving #livesimply
baileyvantassel
baileyvantassel
•
Follow

I love this plant. Calendula is an edible and medicinal flower that self sows quite well. I haven’t had it growing in my garden in about 6 months, and yet here she is!

She likes a cooler season, but apparently end of July works too! Once I saw this volunteer pop up, I immediately started the rest of my seeds.

Follow natures queues to best learn your own garden. Mama 🌎 knows best.

Hoping for a big calendula year to make salves for friends and family. We love it for cuts, burns, and irritated skin.

Oh and then there’s the pure unadulterated joy of calendula flowers adorning a cake or salad. She’s a queen, this one.

#calendula #edibleflowers #medicinalherbs #herbalism #slowliving #livesimply

6 days ago
View on Instagram |
4/4

@baileyvantassel

  • Contact
  • Newsletter Sign up

Copyright © 2022Site Powered by Pix & Hue.